Examples? I thought we would see proof of transactions in exchanges after the mt gox debacle (I haven't used an exchange in over a year).
There are several exchanges that do provide proof of some sort but they can not compete with the likes of mintpal/crypsty/bittrex/bter that are able to provide the volume and depth that brings the traders.
heres a few that do:
https://www.atomic-trade.com/liquidity - simplified totals for each coin that shows whats in users accounts, exchange wallets and the difference between the two if any.
https://exco.in/reserves - provides addresses with signed message to prove ownership
https://www.usecryptos.com/transparency https://exchange.coinport.com/open#/reserve - Very detailed info and can be further verified using their Audit feature.
But people still flock to the secretive exchanges like cryptsy and bittrex, that make no attempt to prove the coins being traded exist. High volume and twitter pump groups that are allowed to operate on those exchanges all keep this going.
Nice one, thanks. Trying to get a list of transparent exchanges together here and that's a big help:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=940156Someone mentioned atomic-trade on that thread, they show reserves but I don't see any way of verifying them.
Exco.in looks good, same kind of system as coinport and very easy to understand.
Usecryptos.com really nice too, don't see signed messages for addresses but that looks like user controlled wallets and that's a huge step in the right direction. Euro and USD trading too, will be recommending them
We may have a different definition of a user controlled wallet, but Usecryptos is simply showing the addresses in the exchanges wallets with current balance and underneath that user account balances, so it can seen if what is held is equal to users see they have there.
Atomic Trade is effectively the same but keeps its simple with just the updated totals for each coin and the difference. It doesn't provide a method of user verification yet but it was one of the first exchanges to provide proof (est Dec 2013). Anyone that has traded there will have been able to see the decrease/increase and difference can seen when coins are deposited/withdrawn or blockchain issues eg fork/rollback. Interesting side effect of PoS coins seen, is when staking can make difference negative as staked amount, is temporarily unavailable until it matures.
There is also a richlist which shows the top 10 balances/users for each coin and provides some further insight into distribution and validates to small degree what is shown on liquidity. (its all linked together and can be seen to update as trades and transfers occur).
Coinport and Exco.in are the latest and still new but their proof is detailed and takes all this to the next level with the verification.
I believe Cryptsy knows it will have to provide something like in the future or its days are numbered, but of course they quite likely cant do it right now as the results would scare half their users away. Increasing fees, changing to base currency fees, rebates, cloud mining hashes are methods by which they take in more btc and then present a better picture when they make their audits public.
But i think no matter how much proof more transparent and honest alternatives provide, the main exchanges have and maintain advantage over them by withholding proof as they can keep faking volume/use their p&d groups and other tricks to keep flow of money into them. Unfortunately majority of traders are going to follow the herd and trade where they can see volume, so low volume and low/empty orderbooks means the more honest exchanges continue to be ignored by them.
